APPARENT DEFEAT OF MEASURES A AND B IS CONFUSING

Voters overturned county approval of project, but left supervisors to decide

The apparent rejection by voters on Tuesday of both Measures A and B has sent a mixed message about development in the rural and semi-rural parts of San Diego County.

On the one hand, voters have rejected the Newland Sierra housing project, a 2,135-home development in North County that had been approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2018. Measure B asked voters countywide to affirm the supervisors’ approval, but the measure was losing by nearly 80,000 votes out of more than 475,000 ballots cast.

Although roughly 350,000 ballots remain uncounted, it is highly likely Measure B has failed despite about $7 million being spent by the Yes on B campaign funded largely by Newland Communities, LLC, which acknowledged defeat through a spokeswoman Wednesday afternoon.

The margin for Measure A is closer, with No on A leading by about 9,000 votes, also with 350,000 ballots remaining to be counted. The next release of voting information won’t happen until late this afternoon, officials said.

If approved, Measure A would require countywide votes before large housing projects are approved in the semi-rural and rural parts of the county. It was strongly opposed by the building industry and many business leaders who said it would worsen the already serious housing crisis in the region.

When the initial dump of votes was released by the Registrar of Voters Tuesday night, representing mailed-in ballots that had arrived at the Registrar’s office by Tuesday, Yes on A was leading by a small amount. But as results came in from the various precincts, the lead dwindled all night until the “No” votes took the lead shortly after midnight.

That’s a positive sign for the No on A campaign, according to spokesman and campaign strategist Tony Manolatos, who said the remaining ballots are mostly ones that were mailed either on election day or in the days just before the election.

“The good news is most of these folks are late voters, and we did really well with late voters all night largely because of our strong push on TV and digital the final two weeks of the campaign,” Manalotos wrote in an email to supporters of the No on A campaign Wednesday morning.

“We trailed 51 to 49 when the initial (mail) ballots were made public last night. Then we slowly moved the needle in the other direction, eventually taking the lead and widening it as more ballots were counted.”

The Yes on A campaign, which was outspent by about a factor of 4 to 1, said it is hopeful the results will swing back in their favor over the course of the next several days as the rest of the ballots are tallied.

“We remain encouraged by the level of momentum that our campaign has received, and we remain cautiously optimistic at this time that Measure A will ultimately prevail in this election,” the campaign said in a written statement.

“The Yes on Measure A campaign is very grateful to our endorsers as well as the hundreds of volunteers who knocked on doors, talked to neighbors, held signs on freeway overpasses and otherwise helped us to get the word out about why passing Measure A is so vital for our community.

“Since the very beginning, our goal has been to help create a sustainable future with housing that is more affordable for all San Diego County residents. We will continue working to obtain a more equitable San Diego County, whether Measure A passes or not.”

It will likely be days or even weeks before enough of the outstanding mail-in, provisional and absentee ballots are counted before a winner can be declared in the Measure A race.

But Measure B seems to have failed, and one of the big questions now is what happens next?

Newland Communities owns a 1,900-acre parcel of land just west of Interstate 15 and north of Deer Springs road, roughly five miles north of downtown Escondido where, according to the General Plan, 99 homes and 2 million square feet of commercial/office space is allowed.

The supervisors instead granted an amendment to the General Plan allowing for construction of 2,135 homes and about 85,000 square feet of commercial building, but that’s now out the window.

The question was placed on the ballot after more than 117,000 signatures were obtained by paid gatherers in the weeks after the supervisors’ vote. The cost of getting the signatures was funded by the Golden Door spa, a luxury resort near where Newland Sierra would be built. The Golden Door also spent millions on the No on B campaign.

Rita Brandin of Newland Communities, Newland Sierra’s project manager, issued a statement Wednesday afternoon somewhat angrily acknowledging defeat:

“It’s difficult getting voter approval for any development project in California, even without funded opposition,” she said.

“Our campaign faced an unprecedented challenge as a result of more than $6 million of deceptive advertising and other activities financed by the Golden Door. When voters have doubts, they vote no, and although most of the Golden Door’s claims were fabricated, they apparently succeeded in raising doubts.

“What is most disappointing is that this is a great project that would raise the bar in San Diego County for a developer voluntarily providing a significant amount of affordable housing for working families,” Brandin continued. “We are very appreciative to the individuals and organizations that came together in support of this project — from affordable housing advocates to public safety groups, elected officials and business groups. Over the next several weeks, we will be reassessing our plans for the property.”

The No on B campaign had a different take of its own Wednesday:

“While there still are votes to be counted, today NO on B leads by more than 16 percentage points (80,000 votes). We are optimistic that strong rejection of Newland Sierra will be fully confirmed as the vote tally is officially completed over the next days.

“Newland had every opportunity to guarantee affordable housing when they originally sought the County’s approval — but they chose not to. It should be no surprise to Newland that San Diegans didn’t believe their last-minute claims. NO on B is proud that we stuck to the facts and held Newland Sierra accountable for the flaws in their project. We will be ready for whatever they try next.”

jharry.jones@sduniontribune.com